MN XC 2025 thread

XC is right around the corner! Not really...but we got new section news for the 2025 season!

Biggest news is Highland Park and Alexandria heading up to AAA and Mpls Southwest down to AA. Plus Bloomington Jefferson, Buffalo, Rogers, all switching sections.

Breakdown by class below...

AAA:

• 2AAA adds Bloomington Jefferson
• 3AAA loses Bloomington Jefferson
• 4AAA loses Cretin-Derham Hall and adds STP Highland Park
• 6AAA loses Mpls Southwest and adds Buffalo, Rogers
• 8AAA loses Buffalo, Rogers, Sauk Rapids-Rice and adds Alexandria, St. Cloud Tech, Monticello

AA:

• 1AA loses Plainview-Elgin-Millville and adds Pine Island
• 2AA loses Glencoe-Silver Lake
• 3AA loses Blake, STP Harding, STP Highland Park and adds Cretin-Derham Hall, Math & Science, and St. Paul Academy
• 4AA adds STP Harding
• 5AA loses Milaca, Monticello, St. Cloud Tech and adds Annandale, Legacy/PACT, Sauk Rapids/Rice
• 6AA loses Annandale and adds Blake, Mpls Southwest
• 7AA adds Milaca
• 8AA loses Alexandria, Eden Valley-Watkins, New London-Spicer and adds Melrose Area

A:

• 1A loses Pine Island and added Plainview-Elgin-Millville
• 2A adds Glencoe-Silver Lake
• 4A loses Math & Science, St. Paul Academy
• 5A loses East Central, Legacy/PACT and adds Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball
• 6A loses Melrose Area and adds New London-Spicer
• 7A adds East Central

In boys AAA, in almost every section it will be a battle for the state qualifying team spots.

With Southwest moving to 6AA, this section will be very competitive. Both Orono and Blake will be in that section too. On the boys side it will be a battle between these 3 teams for state spots.

Southwest can actually win the Class AA state meet on the girls side. They did well at the Class AAA state meet last year and they bring almost everyone back.

Looks like the U of M is selling Les Bolstad Golf Course. Article says it will stay open through the fall and not reopen next spring.

What does this mean for Roy Griak Invite and the State Meet course? Could 2025 be the final year?

Nobody knows anything at this point. If someone keeps it a golf course I’m sure they’ll look to host the usual meets. Most likely it will be mixed use retails with apartments and shops

Some places where the state meet used to be besides St Olaf

Neither of these courses are very good at this point. When it was hosted at lake Nokomis there weren't as many teams. Not so sure about the Northrop field either. I wonder if Gale Woods would be a decent option. Run pretty regularly by many good teams and certainly decent though it might also have the problem with space.

PS: Seeing Duluth Central, Alexander Ramsey and Minneapolis West and Roosevelt takes me back. Duluth Central closed in 2024. Alexander Ramsey changed to Roseville area HS. Minneapolis West closed in 1982 and Minneapolis Roosevelt just isn't very good anymore.

Someone mentioned in the XC 2024 thread that the Roosevelt boys team has a shot to make the state meet this year for the first time in a while. They took 4th at the section 3AA meet last year with only one senior. That section loses state qualifiers Blake and Highland Park, so the state berth seems more of a possibility for Roosevelt now

It also means that 3AA will become weaker, and the sections Blake and Highland Park are moving to will become stronger

Nokomis not an option at all and Northrop Field hasn't existed in 102 years so...

Gale Woods doesn't have the infastructure or space to host a state meet with 3 classes.

There just aren't a lot of quality courses in the state that could handle the size of the meet. Shame about Bolstad, but perhaps the sale will be put on hold for some sort of issue.

St. Olaf has the best course, just need to work out the issues that have come up with parking/transportation.

Perhaps the near question is whether St. Olaf even wants to host. Has anyone talked to their coaches to warn them of this change and tell them to prepare?

I don't think Olaf wants to host, but one option to help with parking/people is splitting races up into 2 days. One class races on Friday evening and the other 2 classes on Saturday.

Another option is Carleton College. They are hosting the D3 XC National meet in 2026, so they do have the capacity to host the state meet. They have a great course, but parking isn't ideal there either and no idea if there is any interest.

Why would they not want to host the State Championship?

Can the coaches association be involved in helping them better plan the logistics of hosting? This could help make it a better experience.

This is the best answer. Maybe Northfeld high school can be co-hosts and help them to solve some of their issues and put on a better quality meet.

It is definitely discussed within the coaches association, it is more of the MSHSL willingness to work with them. Great example is the awkwardness of state awards ceremony with some MSHSL awards and some MSHSCA awards

The XC Coaches Clinic is in July and the agenda includes a presentation on "state meet venue options/proposals" and then a discussion afterwards regarding that and the current three class system.

If they would have their students move their cars off campus for the day, the parking issues would be solved. Maybe they could move them to Northfield High School or Carleton and run shuttles to allow better access for State meet competitors and spectators.

I'd also like more access for coaches to the middle portion of the course around the pond. If the Coaches Association can secure that, it would be a better experience for all involved.

My thought exactly. Even if Blake should be moved to 6AA (its in Hopkins) HP should not have been. If they want to move it to a section move it to 4AA. The 2nd team in that section has their 5th at 5:38 so quite a bit worse than most others especially in the metro.

Just brainstorming after a run with some other coaches today.

Can the Coaches Association just rent the facility from St. Olaf? Then we can put in the best meet for our athletes and not worry about their arbitrary rules and poor parking plans. I’d want to assure they offer better parking options. We couldn’t get parking passes for our whole staff last time they hosted and one had to ride a shuttle from far away.

Predictions for boys teams

AAA boys
1. Wayzata
2. Blaine
3. Rosemount

AA boys
1. Como Park
2. Perham
3. Becker

A Boys
1. Cotter/Hope
2. La/Rp/H
3. Nova Classical Academy